The use of compounds which bind to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors for the treatment of a range of disorders involving reduced cholinergic function such as Alzheimer's disease, cognitive or attention disorders, anxiety, depression, smoking cessation, neuroprotection, schizophrenia, analgesia, Tourette's syndrome, and Parkinson's disease is discussed in: McDonald et al., (1995) “Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: Molecular Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacology”, Chapter 5 in Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 30, pp. 41-50, Academic Press Inc., San Diego, Calif.; Williams et al., (1994) “Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors,” Drug News & Perspectives, vol. 7, pp. 205-223; Holladay et al. (1997) J. Med. Chem. 40(26), 4169-4194; Arneric and Brioni (Eds.) (1998) “Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors: Pharmacology and Therapeutic Opportunities”, John Wiley & Sons, New York; Levin (Ed.) (2001) “Nicotinic Receptors in the Nervous System” CRC Press.
Compounds which bind to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and particularly those that bind to alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are useful for the treatment of a range of disorders involving reduced cholinergic function such as Alzheimer's disease, cognitive or attention disorders, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, analgesia, Tourette's syndrome, and Parkinson's disease. Such compounds are also useful for inducing smoking cessation and are neuroprotective.